Retirement Comes at Any Age in the Voice Over Industry

When will you retire from the voice over industry? If you’re thinking at the age of 65, you may want to reconsider. While many people believe that by age 65 a career should be winding down, voice overs may just be warming up.

Celebrity Voices Working Past Retirement

Carolyn Hopkins is the voice over for airports, subways stops, weather warnings, and more. You’ve probably heard her countless times as you’re travelling. When you hear her voice you might not have thought about the person behind the voice, but this calm, cheery voice lives in Northern Maine and is 67 years old.

Listen to this interview to learn more about how Carolyn got her start and the two words that are the most difficult for her.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/03/10/voice-carolyn-hopkins

Carolyn isn’t the only voice over artist that is working into retirement. There are many other well-known voices that are approaching or past this stage of life.

  • Sportscaster Dick Enberg (age 80) has been doing March Madness basketball games on television for over 50 years.
  • Harry Shearer is 71 years old, and he was the voice behind many of the Simpsons characters.
  • Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick called over 3,000 pro hockey games in his lifetime, and he is 68.
  • John Keith Patrick Allen was still doing voice over work two weeks before he died at the age of 79.
  • Thurl Ravenscroft, who is the voice behind “Tony the Tiger,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and others worked well into his 80s.
  • Charlie O’Donnell, the voice of Wheel of Fortune, was 78 years old.
  • Johnny Gilbert of Jeopardy was doing it at 85 years old.
  • Peter Thomas does the voice for Forensic Files as well as other television programs, and he is 90 years old.

As you can see, the voice over industry has no age of retirement. Voice is independent of age, as long as you take care of it.

Taking care of your voice means taking care of your body. Eating well, getting enough sleep, drinking water, and exercising your voice are all important.

A big reason why you don’t normally see the image of many voice overs is because people don’t usually look the way they sound. When you look at many of these people’s pictures who were doing voice over work in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, you would never believe their age.

This is great news for everyone pursuing a career in voice over. While you may want to retire at 65, you don’t have to, which is exciting for anyone who wants to continue to do what they love in the voice over industry.